'Happy to be home': Australians quarantined on Christmas Island return to Sydney

It was the sweetest homecoming of all for 96 Sydney-based Australian citizens and permanent residents who had been quarantined on Christmas Island for a fortnight after leaving China's Hubei province.

There were plenty of family members at the arrivals gate of Terminal 2, and although a lot of returnees sidestepped the media scrum, some were more than happy to talk about their experiences.

Yen Hoang, who works at the University of Western Sydney, said he would probably wait until next week before returning to work.

"It was a great experience, we feel a lot of gratitude for what people did for us. We had a lot of support."

He said he was "very happy" with how the Australian government had acted.

"I had a regular lifestyle and routine, I was exercising every day and reading books."

He kept a diary of his "unique" experience.

"In Wuhan, it was very difficult - I wasn't afraid, my parents are still there - so I pray for them in this difficult period."

Another man, Dayu Huang, said he was just looking forward to getting a halal snack pack and playing video games with his mates.

"It wasn't too bad [on Christmas Island]. We all shared the same experience, so we could all talk about it. It wasn't as boring as you'd think, as soon as we got good Wi-Fi it was much better."

Mr Huang was in Xinjiang with his family before a "tedious" stopover in Wuhan.

The Sydneysiders were among the 200-plus passengers returning to major cities around Australia from Christmas Island.Credit: James Alcock

Nancy Ma, who had travelled to Wuhan with her 12 and 14-year-old children and her parents, said there were some reservations about getting onto the plane to Christmas Island, but was glad that she and her family did.

"The last two weeks were good. The kids had a great time there - I really appreciate the Australian government organising this."

She said the army organised a birthday cake for her elder child while on the island.

Before transitioning to Christmas Island, they remained at her parents' house in Wuhan for 10 days.

Dayu Huang, who was on the chartered flight from Christmas Island, said he was looking forward to playing video games with his mates.Credit: James Alcock

Now, she's worried about organising her younger child's entry into high school after she spent the start of the school year in quarantine.

"I'm just happy to be home," Ms Ma said. "We were a little bit scared [in Wuhan]."

More than 200 passengers returned to major cities around Australia on Tuesday evening, having spent two weeks away from general population before being cleared of coronavirus symptoms.

Three chartered flights arrived at Christmas Island this morning, each transporting passengers to two capital cities.

One of the planes landed at Sydney Airport just before 8pm, and then departed for Canberra.

Australians who were evacuated from Wuhan leave Christmas Island on Tuesday.Credit: Twitter

The two other aircraft flew to Brisbane via Perth, and Melbourne via Adelaide.

More than 70,000 people have been infected with the virus so far, and nearly 1800 people have died.

The number of cases in Australia is 15, of which six have been cleared. The remaining nine are in a stable condition. Of those 15 cases, five were from Queensland, four each from Victoria and NSW, and two from South Australia.